Creative and Profitable High School Fundraising

Fundraising isn’t as easy as it used to be. In a struggling economy, everyone holds their wallets a little tighter, especially high school students who have small or unstable income streams. Creating an effective and successful high school fundraiser that allows students to participate can be tricky.

To execute a successful high school fundraiser, several ideal conditions must be met:

The workload must be easily split and divided.

The expected profit margin must be worth all the time and expenses.

Ideally the fundraiser engages students, parents, staff and the community at some level.

The fundraiser should be enjoyable for both hosts and participants.

The Idea: A dance-based event for high school students and members of the faculty. Though this is not an uncommon event at high schools, a bit of creativity can transform a traditional high school dance into a successful fundraiser. Inviting the community, families and students to the venue and spicing up the traditional dance with some unique ideas can drive ticket sales and increase profit.

3 Profit Generation Ideas:

Ticket sales, both prepaid and at the door.

Raffling off dances with community or school leaders: mayor, superintendent, favorite teachers.

Selling glow sticks & related dance accessories.

Provide a photo booth or professional photographer for guests to capture their memories.

Creative Thoughts to Consider:

A themed dance: Feature a time period and invite guests to dress from that era, serve food that was popular during that time and be sure to have lots of music and decorations representative of that time period.

Create a fast-paced dance off. Offer prizes for a variety of categories like costumes, creativity, best skill, etc.

Partner your dance with another event like a silent auction. Offering memorabilia that is interesting to high school students can drive bidding for unique auction items and increase profit for your school.